~ The Last American Man, by Elizabeth Gilbert ~ This is one of Gilbert’s earlier works, published in 2002, but her writing voice was distinctive already. It is an aptly named book, chronicling the personality of Eustace Conway, born in...
~ Stay with Me, by Ayobami Adebayo ~ Like most good novels, Stay with Me is both specific — set in Nigeria, in the 1990s, among both traditional and modern people — and universal — a deep look into the...
~ Listen to Me, by Hannah Pittard ~ This slim novel has a very simple storyline: Married couple, Maggie and Mark, with their dog, Gerome, embark on their annual interstate drive to Virginia for a vacation with Mark’s parents. Mark...
~ The Farewell, a film by Lulu Wang ~ A smart, touching film about diaspora and culture, The Farewell features Awkwafina in a wonderful starring role as Billi: Chinese-American, living in New York, with a grandmother in Changchun, China. Billi’s...
~ The Bride Test, by Helen Hoang ~ This was an easy reading book, but not necessary one that should be taken too seriously or read in too much depth for understanding of the Vietnamese culture or Vietnamese diasporic society...
~ Professor Chandra Follows his Bliss, by Rajeev Balasubramanyam ~ Professor Chopra is the quintessential cantankerous, opinionated, elderly Indian man. He is also a very distinguished Cambridge academician in the field of economics. How distinguished exactly? The novel opens on...
~ The Outlaw Album, by Daniel Woodrell ~ Having read the review of Woodrell’s Winter’s Bone and then eagerly devoured the novel, I sought out more from this author, and managed to get my hands on his 2011 collection of...
~ The Spies of Shilling Lane, by Jennifer Ryan ~ A spy story set in WWII England featuring a middle-aged mother sounds like the perfect novel for a Sunday afternoon with a cup of tea but, alas, The Spies of...
~ Honor, by Elif Shafak ~ This is neither here nor there perhaps, but the 2012 Viking (hard backed) edition of this novel spells its title as “Honor” while within the pages of the novel, the word is always spelt...
~ Exit West, by Mohsin Hamid ~ While all four of Hamid’s novels have been well written, I thought his first (Moth Smoke) and this fourth, Exit West, were the most beautiful: moving, resigned yet optimistic, tackling complex and controversial...
~ Clock Dance, by Anne Tyler ~ This novel follows a charming chronology: we meet our protagonist, Willa Drake, in 1967, at 11 years of age, where her mum has just had a quarrel with her dad and left the...
~ Melmoth, by Sarah Perry ~ This is a difficult book to review. There is a clear plotline, there are a number of strong protagonists, but this novel’s focus is neither on the storyline nor its key characters. It has...
~ The Indian Bride, by Karin Fossum ~ This title suggests a heart-rending Western novel involving child brides and patriarchal customs in the subcontinent, but in fact this is a Scandinavian-noir mystery in the genre made so popular by Stieg...
~ My Patients Like Treats: Tales from a House-Call Veterinarian, by Duncan MacVean ~ The title and cover picture are both charming. The book itself is largely a disappointment. MacVean may well be a great veterinarian, but alas, he is...
A romantic novel with some social commentary, Sonali Dev’s ‘Pride and Prejudice and Other Flavours’ very loosely follows the Austen original. This is all to the good, as most Austen retellings are pale shadows of the originals. (see ‘A Multitude...
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